Covered tank or the like

ABSTRACT

A tank having somewhat flexible walls in which it is desired to provide a cover secured to the tank without the use of any takeapart fasteners such as bolts, snaps, or the like. Along the upper edges of its walls the tank has outturned flanges. On opposite side walls the cover has depending, inturned flanges which when the cover is in place, rest under the flanges of the tank. One of the inturned flanges of the cover is cut away at its ends, whereby when the upper end of the adjacent tank wall is pushed inwardly the cover may be removed.

United States Patent [1 1 Wilson 1 Oct. 23, 1973 COVERED TANK OR THE LIKE [76] Inventor: Thomas D. Wilson, Morris, Ala.

[22] Filed: Dec. 27, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 212,209

Primary Examiner-Samuel B. Rothberg Assistant ExaminerStephen P. Garbo Attorney-Hugh P. Carter et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A tank having somewhat flexible walls in which it is desired to provide a cover secured to the tank without the use of any take-apart fasteners such as bolts, snaps, or the like. Along the upper edges of its walls the tank has outturned flanges. On opposite side walls the cover has depending, inturned flanges which when the cover is in place, rest under the flanges of the tank. One of the inturned flanges of the cover is cut away at its ends, whereby when the upper end of the adjacent tank wall is pushed inwardly the cover may be removed.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures mtminmzams 3766353 SHEET 2 BF 2 I-WEWOR. Thomas D. [AU/son W pw v Attorneys COVERED TANK OR THE LIKE This invention relates to covered tanks or the like and has for an object the provision of a tank having a cover which may be secured thereto without any fastening means such as bolts or the like and yet, when desired, may be readily and quite easily removed.

In this art, and particularly in the art of animal husbandry, it presently is customary to feed cattle and the like liquid nutrients such as enriched molasses. These nutrients are placed in fairly large tanks, and the covers of the same are provided with one or more rotatable wheels, a small portion of the peripheries of which project above the tank, through suitable openings in the cover. The cattle or other animals learn to lick these wheels, turning them in the process, thereby to obtain the liquid from the inside of the tank, in which the lower parts of the wheels are submerged. In this form of container it is required that the same be provided with a removable cover so that they may be cleaned frequently. Heretofore the covers for these containers have been held in place by means of bolts or the like and other kinds of fasteners.

My invention contemplates a covered tank especially adapted for the foregoing purpose which consists essentially of a rectangular tank made of fiberglass or like material so that its walls are slightly flexible, that is,

may be moved inwardly along their upper edges. Along the upper edges of the walls of the tank I provide outwardly disposed flanges. Along opposite sides the cover is provided with depending, inturned flanges adapted to fit under the outturned flanges on opposite side walls of the tank, thus to prevent the cover from being accidentally knocked off by the cattle or the like feeding at the device. In order to remove the cover I cut away one of the flange along one of the sides of the cover, adjacent each end thereof for a distance sufficient, when the central part of the adjacent wall of the tank is flexed inwardly, for its flange to clear the cut away flange of the adjacent edge of the cover, permitting the cover to be raised upwardly.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application in which;

FIG. 1 is a plan view of my improved covered tank with the cover in place;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view;

FIG. 3 is a plan view, partly broken away and in section and showing a side wall of the tank flexed inwardly, to clear the flange on the cover, preparatory to removing the cover;

FIG. 4 is a detail sectional view taken generally along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and drawn to an enlarged scale;

FIG. 5 is a detail sectional view taken generally along line 5-5 of ig. 2 and drawn to an enlarged scale; and,

FIG. 6 is a fragmental detail sectional view taken generally along line 6-6 of FIG. 1 and drawn to an en-' larged scale.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of my invention I show the same as embodied in a tank 10 which may have side walls 11 and 12, end walls 13 and 14 and a bottom 15. The tank preferably is made of fiberglass or other material which results in the walls thereof being slightly flexible.

As best shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the respective walls of the tank are provided at their upper ends with outturned flanges 11a, 12a, 13a and 14a.

The cover may comprise generally a plane sheet of fiberglass material 16. As shown in FIG. 1 there are openings cut in the top to receive one or more wheels 20, these being suspended from suitable bearings indicated at 20a and carried by depending members secured to the cover so that the peripheries of the wheels project slightly above the openings in the cover. As shown in FIG. 4 the wheels extend almost to the bottom of the tank so that the liquid, indicated by the line L, will cling to the periphery of the wheels as they are turned, until substantially all of the liquid is exhausted from the tank.

The cover 16 is provided with downturned side flanges l7 and 18. These flanges are then turned inwardly and horizontally as at 17a and 18a. At its ends the cover is provided with downturned flanges l9 and 21, but the inturned flanges are omitted.

As shown particularly in FIG. 3 it will be seen that the inturned flange 18a which in the instance shown is on the side of the tank located adjacent flange 12a carried by side wall 12 of the tank, is cut away as indicated at 18b and 18c. That is to say, the flange 18a is cut away adjacent its ends, leaving the central part to underlie the flange 12a of the tank. Thus, in cooperation with the underlying flange 17a at the opposite side of the tank, the cover is held in place against accidental displacement. It will be noted that the depending flanges 19 and 21 prevent the cover from sliding endwise off the tank.

As stated, the tank itself is made so that its walls may be slightly flexed inwardly, at their upper ends. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when it is desired to remove the cover the side wall 12 is flexed inwardly to the position shown, whereby its flange 12a is removed from a position overlying flange 18a carried by the cover. The cover may now be moved upwardly in the direction of the arrow 22, through the dotted line position shown in FIG. 4, and thence completely removedfrom the tank.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have devised an improved tank with removable cover which is especially adapted for use in making available to cattle and the like liquid feed supplements such as molasses. The cover is held in place without the use of any fasteners which are apt to be lost in use and which also are apt to rust or otherwise deteriorate. In order to remove the cover it is only necessary to flex the wall 12 inwardly so that its flange 12a moves from the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position in FIG. 4, whereupon the cover along the edge or flange 18a may be lifted upwardly, for removal.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is; V

1. In a covered tank or the like,

a. a tank having a bottom and generally vertically directed sides,

b. generally horizontally extending flanges on the upper edges of one pair of opposed sides of the tank,

c. a cover for the tank having inturned generally horizontal flanges only on opposed sides disposed to underlie the horizontal flanges on the tank sides, thus to secure the top to the tank,

d. one of the flanges on the cover terminating short of the adjacent sides of the cover, and

e. one side of the tank being flexible enough for the upper flange carrying edge thereof to be deflected inwardly of the tank, clear of the adjacent shortened flange on the cover, permitting the adjacent edge of the cover to be raised upwardly, thereby to 5 tankremove the cover from the tank. 

1. In a covered tank or the like, a. a tank having a bottom and generally vertically directed sides, b. generally horizontally extending flanges on the upper edges of one pair of opposed sides of the tank, c. a cover for the tank having inturned generally horizontal flanges only on opposed sides disposed to underlie the horizontal flanges on the tank sides, thus to secure the top to the tank, d. one of the flanges on the cover terminating short of the adjacent sides of the cover, and e. one side of the tank being flexible enough for the upper flange carrying edge thereof to be deflected inwardly of the tank, clEar of the adjacent shortened flange on the cover, permitting the adjacent edge of the cover to be raised upwardly, thereby to remove the cover from the tank.
 2. A tank as defined in claim 1 in which the cover has depending flanges along the other pair of its opposed sides, thereby to prevent the cover from sliding off the tank. 